The Hook-Up Queen
by Mrs.Cullen0118
Summary: Bella has always grown up with the idea that monogamy is impossible, thanks to the ideas Charlie put in her head. Just graduated from college she has earned her rightful title, The Hook-Up Queen. But all that changes the night she hooks up with Edward Cullen, who ends up being so much more than a stranger from the bar. AU, AH Canon couples eventually, updated 1-2 times a week.
1. The Hook-Up Queen

The Hook-Up Queen

I remembered being a little girl and hearing my dad tell me all about love. My mom passed away way before I could ever hear about sex and how you'll get your heartbroken a million times until you find "the one." The only thing my dad ever told me was how worthless it was and you didn't need to have your heart torn in half. He was so in love with my mom, even if he never said it. You only hate love if you've lost it and he lost my mom because of me. That's why he hates me in a way, I mean he loves me obviously, he was my dad. Charlie tells me it everyday and makes sure I know I wasn't the reason my mom died. Yet at the same time i knew it was one of those feelings you can't help but feel. The ones you feel bad for feeling and wish you didn't. I didn't blame him for feeling it though, sometimes I hated myself for coming along too. If my mom hadn't had me then it wouldn't have happened. Maybe they could've gotten pregnant earlier or later with a different kid, changing everything. If that were true I wouldn't be alive but she would. My dad would be a lot happier with a son and his wife. He wanted someone to throw around the baseball with, talks sports, and have the love of his life bake cookies before he comes home from work. Instead he was stuck with an unathletic, brainiac, clumsy daughter who cooked dinner every night and failed to be popular in any way.

Here I was, graduating from college as a journalism major. I had a high school diploma, a college degree and yet to have a boyfriend. It wasn't because I was ugly, I knew that the least. I had gone on dates, but they were always the first and last. After having dinner, going to the beach, seeing a movie or even going to a concert they'd head back to wherever and well..you know the rest. My number was at thirteen and not one had managed to remain in my life for more than one night. Thanks to the thoughts my father had put in my mind about the idea of love I didn't plan on stopping my rather promiscuous lifestyle. Everyone at my school knew it was true, my friend Rosalie Hale often liked to call me the Queen of Hookups. She however had remained with the same guy, Emmett Cullen for five years. Since we were best friends she was always bugging me to go out on actual dates and start trying out relationships. And as much as I wanted a happy committed relationship I couldn't count on it working out.

Holding my degree in my hand I tapped my foot. I just kept staring at it as if the name on it were to change and I'd find myself back in my high school english class. That obviously didn't happen. At least in high school I felt some sort of direction for my life. Now with thousands of dollars in debt and moving back home for the summer I had no idea what this degree could really do for myself. Most of my classmates had internships or jobs lined up for the summer or a few months after graduation. I'd gotten a few job offers scattered across the country, mostly in New York and Chicago. But I liked Washington it had always been home for me. I had traveled plenty enough to know this was somewhere I wanted to stay for the rest of my life.

Realizing staring wouldn't do much for me I put my diploma into the final box. I'd decided it was finally time to get my own apartment when I came back to Seattle in the fall. Since my sophomore year I'd been living with two other girls, Tanya and her sister Irina. They were nice enough but we weren't exactly best friends. For the most part they were always out doing something, giving me my space to do whatever I wanted. But being a college and having roommates seemed too immature for my life at this point. So I had found a small apartment in the middle of the city cheap enough for me to pay for with my summer job. It wasn't anything to do with writing. I worked at Newton's Sporting Goods. He had been a good friend during high school and ended up marrying Jessica Stanley. I think they had a kid now and she hated it according to my friend Angela.

That was another reason I didn't want to commit to a relationship. Most people ended up divorced, unhappy and bored. I enjoyed my life, going out whenever I wanted and being with whoever I wanted. Unlike others my age I wasn't picking out a wedding dress or a crib for my nursery. Even if you're happy for just one second with someone doesn't mean it'll last the rest of your life.

Walking out into the living room of the apartment I'd spent the past three years in I felt nostalgic. There had been plenty of parties, nights Rose and I sat in bed watching netflix with Japanese food, the various boys I'd brought back. Even the good times with the Denali sisters. It'd been home for four years now, it was hard leaving it behind.

"Do you have everything Bella?" Tanya asked tossing a towel into the bathroom after her shower.

I nodded with my hands full. "Yeah, this is the last box." Setting it down I went to give her a hug."Thank you so much for everything, tell Irina I said I'll miss her." Irina was working, she was currently a nursing student just a few years younger than us. She was much more organized and worked harder than both Tanya and I.

Squeezing me she laughed "Of course. When you're back in the city give us a call and we'll go to Eclipse and get some drinks."

"See ya around Tanya."

With the final goodbye done and over with, I hopped into my Toyota Corolla and began the drive to Forks. It was a little less than four hours, but if you knew the route as well as I did it could be reduced to around three hours. I knew my dad would be awaiting my arrival, pacing back and forth on the yellow linoleum floors in our kitchen. That was the kind of thing that let me know he loved me. It hadn't been too long since I saw him last, just a week ago he had come up to watch my graduation. After having dinner together he left so I could have some fun. And by fun that meant Rose and I getting trashed at the bar with Emmett tagging along. After that I had brought some guy named Jason home, he was cool enough other than the fact that when I woke up he was still there. He expected breakfast and to go out with me later. Had to let the kid down pretty hard.

Spacing out the drive seemed a lot quicker than three hours. I had arrived home at two-thirty in the afternoon. Rose had already arrived at the Cullen's house, her boyfriend's parents had invited the two to come stay with them until they found an apartment in town they liked. He was planning on proposing, Emmett had included me on the whole thing. I even got to help pick out her ring. Emmett was an EMT working in the medical field just like his father, Dr. Cullen was an amazing surgeon. He worked all over the country dragging Emmett and his siblings across the country during their childhood. According to my dad the town was "blessed" to have him working in Forks when he could be making more money anywhere else. But Emmett had told us his family was extremely down to earth and his parents loved the small town was the town they'd stayed in the longest. Rosalie was planning on opening up her own daycare in town not only were Emm's parents rich but Rose's father was some big banker back in New York. The two didn't get along after he tried to force her into a marriage with some jerk named Royce. She ran away the day of their wedding and came to Seattle where she got accepted into college. Her dad eventually gave in and the two were talking again. Between the two families the daycare wouldn't have any financial problems.

I had some money from my mother passing away. But I couldn't touch any of it until I turned twenty-five. It was a helpful amount that would be going towards my college payments. Other than my mother's money my dad and I were okay on financial things. He was a small town police chief so he made enough to feed and put clothes on my back growing up. But as soon as I could I got a job to help him pay the bills. He of course never knew I slipped money into his wallet or bank account growing up. To him he figured it was his mind getting the best of him.

My tires hit the old muddy driveway I'd grown up in. Through the window I could see my father pacing back and forth just as I predicted. Hearing my car he walked towards the front door.

"Bells!" He exclaimed scooping me into a big hug as he got to my car.

Burying my face into his shoulder I was glad to be home for the summer. "Dad, it's good to see you." Pulling back I placed a kiss on his cheek.

He got all embarrassed, cheeks turning red. "Gonna be nice having you around kid. Why don't you go get something to eat and I can grab your stuff."

"Dad, I don't want you hurting yourself. I'm gonna help."

As I reached for a box he slapped my hand away. "You'll do no such thing, this is my house and you're the guest. Plus you've been driving for way too long."

Chuckling I rolled my dark brown eyes. "Okay dad, whatever makes you happy."

The house I grew up in remained completely unchanged. The only differences I could see were more pictures hanging up on the wall or on the fireplace. For an old single guy he kept the place pretty clean, but then again he didn't really ever make a huge mess. Most of the time dinner was take out from somewhere around town, more often than not it was the diner. Together we went there every Wednesday, sometimes even twice a week. Charlie was a pretty simple man who just wanted a good steak and a beer in his hand.

I walked up to my bedroom, another room that remained unchanged. Over the years the only thing constantly changing was my bed. Plopping right down I stared up at the ceiling wondering what my summer would hold. Before I knew it I had dozed off into a deep sleep.

After waking up three hours later Charlie and I enjoyed a quiet dinner with each other. He asked me a few questions about graduation, my friends, and work. Other than that we didn't talk much. It had always been like that, a comfortable silence. The two of us were similar in that way, sometimes awkward but then again easy to get along with. My mom Renee however was the complete opposite. Dad told me she was loud and crazy, made them do random things in random cities before I was born. The two got married in Vegas, not because it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. They did it because mom thought it would be fun and make for a cool story.

Hearing all the stories about her just made me want to know her all the more. As a child all the other girls had their mother's to do their hair and enroll them in ballet classes. Instead I had to learn how to braid my hair on the playground and played at the police station pretending I was a cop. And it wasn't that I hated Charlie and resented him for never remarrying, it was just a void I never had filled. I appreciated everything he did for me and wouldn't give him up for the world.

When dinner was over Rose and Emmett begged me to come out with them in Port Angeles. The two were celebrating us finally finishing school. Em had been done for a year now but waited around Seattle for Rosalie to be finished. Emmett's sister Alice and her boyfriend Jasper were coming as well. I'd never met Alice, she'd spent the past few years traveling around the world. She was a fashion blogger so she was in Paris, London and plenty more fashion capitals since she graduated high school. And just a few months ago she had been in New York for some business when she met Jasper at a coffee shop. Now the two were inseparable I guess.

"I'll see you later dad, don't stay up too late." I pecked his cheek as he sat in his old recliner watching baseball. It was something he did every single night after dinner.

As soon as I was out the door Emmett and everyone were waiting in his giant silver jeep. "Hurry up Bells, the shots are calling our names!"

Chuckling I paced myself a little faster, opening the door I saw two unfamiliar faces. Alice barely looked like her older brother. She was tiny, pale and had a pixie hair cut. In a way the two had similar features. The man sitting next to her had blonde curly hair and pale blue eyes, he was built lanky yet strong. "Bella! I've heard so much about you! It's so great to finally meet, we're gonna be best friends I already know!"

Her enthusiasm shocked me, that was one quality she had in common with Emmett. "Nice to meet you too Alice. And I'm assuming this is Jasper?"

"Yes Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." His southern accent was heavy and charming.

Shaking his hand I suddenly felt excited for tonight. I'd been out plenty of times with just Em and Rose, but now with two new friends it meant the night would be a little more interesting.

The entire car ride was spent with Alice and Emmett bickering about their childhood memories. The two may not have looked similar but they were almost the exact same person. I eventually tunned out the conversation staring out the window at the green, it was all green. I wasn't listening until I heard something about another Cullen.

"Wait, there's another one of you?" I whipped my head to the front, meeting Rosalie's eyes.

She laughed "I promise he's the last one, no more surprise Cullens. He'll be visiting soon. He's finishing his internship at some hospital in Chicago."

All the Cullens were perfect, I mean their father Carlisle was a surgeon. Esme, their mother was a teacher for kindergarten. Then there's the children who have their own special talents and careers. According to Rose they were the real deal, all super close and as perfect as people said. I had yet to meet Carlisle and Edward.

The club was in full-swing by the time we arrived. Alice dragged me in ready to dance the night away. She was all dressed up in designer clothes whose names I had no idea of. Watching her and Jasper the two were polar opposites but balanced each other out, just like batteries. He was calm, stood at the bar drinking whiskey and bourbon. While Alice was singing, hyper and downing shots of vodka with me. Rosalie was more calm tonight, clinging to Emmett's side. She told me the two of them were wanting to start trying for a baby soon so she was avoiding drinking.

Eventually around midnight I had wondered away from Alice and everyone else. This was my usual habit when it came to going out. After the sixth shot I was normally ready to find someone to take home.

With a pounding headache I decided to grab a ginger ale from the bar. Across the bar I could see everyone just talking, occasionally Rose would point and they'd all look over. I had assumed she filled Alice and Jasper in on my bar routine. Awaiting my drink I heard "Hey, so you look down? Maybe I can feel you up?"

Gagging as i took a sip I started to laugh "Excuse me?"

He reached out his hand for me to shake, he was handsome. Dark, mysterious and blonde. "I'm James, it's nice to meet you sweetheart."

As I extended to shake his hand he pulled me in closer, his breath smelt of alcohol. Mine did too but at least I wasn't hitting on guys with horribly crude pick up lines. "I'm Bella."

His face got closer to mine, I could tell he wanted to kiss me. And as handsome as he was I just couldn't find myself too into him. "Well Bella, why don't we head on over to my place?" James grabbed onto my wrist, using his thumb to stroke it.

I tried to pull back but he held on tighter, squeezing it. "Well James, why don't you let go of my wrist?"

His eyes went from flirtatious to dangerous. Unlike most he seemed to be an angry drunk. I had seen plenty of his kind in college. "You're gonna shut your pretty little mouth and follow me." James stood up forcefully pulling me along.

"Let go of me now." I once again attempted to pull myself out of his grasp.

"You're going to let the lady go, NOW." From behind me another hand had grabbed my arm, softer this time.

James chuckled rolling his eyes "What're you gonna do about it, sir?"

"Now." Was all the stranger said, his green eyes staring right at James.

He finally let go putting his hands up. "Alright tough guy, the slut is all yours."

Before James could walk too far from us the man with the pretty green eyes grabbed him by his shirt, pinning him up against the wall. "Apologize you low life."

"I'm really sorry for everything sweetheart. You're not a slut."

Waving my hand I nodded "Yeah, yeah. Go home you drunk."

After the stranger let him down James ran straight for the door. I had encountered many drunk assholes in my bar days but never had I ever experienced something so scary. Most men were somewhat respectful when I declined their advances. Thankfully the one time I needed assistance the gorgeous stranger came to my rescue.

I extended my hand in gratitude. "I cannot thank you enough, I'm Bella."

"No need to thank me, I've seen personally how some scumbags can treat a woman. I'm Edward by the way."

And that was that. We began to talk, hitting it off instantly. He was a surgeon who had just moved to Forks after living in Boston the past eight years. Everything about him drew me in. Together we drank by the bar, smiling and laughing. The entire time I couldn't help but notice his sex eyes. They were a beautiful green the kind of green you only see on contact commercials. Within thirty minutes of talking he grabbed my hand gently caressing it with his soft thumb. We were both a little drunk and way too into each other. "You wanna get out of here?"

Before I knew it we were in a cab, making out. My hand was entangled in his gorgeous bronze hair making it even more messy than it had been before. But he didn't seem to care all he cared about at this point was getting me back to his house. And quite frankly that's all I kept thinking about.

We pulled up to an impressive white house, it wasn't huge but it wasn't the size of an apartment either. Once we out of the cab I didn't have much time to notice anymore trivial details about his house. Our hands were intertwined as we entered through the marble front door. Part of me considered the thought that he was married, I mean who alone in Port Angeles could really afford this house? Being a little tipsy I knew it wouldn't seem all that weird to swing his hand up, inspecting it. There was no ring, nor a tan line from it. I let out a sigh of relief as he unlocked the door. I couldn't say I hadn't ever been that girl, only once though. After that I refused to ever go home with a married guy.

The house was so open, the colors all various shades of grays and blues, so perfect. Setting his keys on the little table by the door he grabbed my hand once again, turning on the lights allowing me to see it better. Before I could get a better look around he pulled me gently towards the right, his bedroom. Our lips fiercely met once again, now in the privacy of his home without a creepy cab driver staring the entire time I jumped up on him, leaning against the walls with my legs wrapped around him. Thankfully he'd started the process of removing our clothes, slowly but it worked in his favor. Once we were completely undressed he moved me from the wall to his bed, throwing me down fiercely. As he trailed kisses down my body I shivered in response. We hadn't even gotten all the way and this was some of the most amazing I've had.

After we were finished I rolled off onto my back, pulling the covers over my sweaty body. I huffed. God, this was the best hook-up ever.

 **Hope you enjoyed, tell me what you like, what you didn't, etc. Love you all.**


	2. HeyEdward

The Hook-Up Queen

The sunlight shined through the window, i groaned knowing immediately I didn't want to get out of bed today. I had completely forgotten where I was and who I slept with last night.

"Morning."

I jumped hearing him, practically jumping from his bed. Taking the sheets I covered my naked body, turning to see his face. Good job Bella I thought to myself. "God,you scared me! But morning Edward." I could only remember his name because it was the same as Emmett and Alice's brother. If I didn't know he was still in Chicago I would've questioned exactly who I was sleeping with.

He chuckled extending his hand out to me. "I figured you'd appreciate this Bella. ." Advil and a glass of water. Was he sent from heaven?

"Thank you. What time is it?" I'd promised Rose last night would go out to lunch and shopping with her and Alice.

He glanced at the clock above his bed frame. "It's just past nine, I figured you'd appreciate some sleep."

Throwing on my pants that were thrown across the room I nodded. "Thanks, but I've gotta get going. Meeting some friends." I looked around the room for the black v-neck I'd been wearing the night before. "Have you seen my shi"

Turning around he was standing behind me, holding up the shirt. Staring at my boobs, of course. "Right here. So listen, I had a really great time last night."

"Me too, but i gotta get going. See ya around Edward.." Not wanting to stick around and have any more conversation I fled for the door, underwear and purse in hand as I reached the street.

Before I could go anywhere I realized I was in the middle of Forks, with no mode of transportation. Not wanting to deal with Edward I began walking down the road, dialing Rosalie's number as I did. Somehow we had ended up in a cab for over an hour. I couldn't recall the entire ride.

"You dirty little hook-up queen! I can't believe you just ran out of there." Rosalie squealed as I got into her car, down the road from his house.

I rolled my eyes, trying to tame my hair a little bit. Dad didn't need to know what I was exactly up to at night. "I mean we had chemistry, _really_ good chemistry but that's the last time I see him."

Sighing she shook her head "Bella, come on. You said he was gorgeous, he lives in Forks and you said there was chemistry! Being happy wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. You know how much I love Em, and you remember me saying it was just a little thing."

"Okay, if I see him again by chance even if it's just the grocery store then I'll ask him out. If the world wants us together, we'll be together."

After dropping me off I ran upstairs to shower and get ready, my dad was at work like always. I never took too long to get ready, which gave me some time to mess around. My little house was adorable and I had missed spending all my time here. Forks was the perfect town for a little family. It would've been perfect for my parents to have maybe one or two more kids.

I liked to imagine how our life would've been in a world where Renee lived. To me we would've lived in this house for another year or two until my mom found out she was pregnant with my little sister, and Dad would fuss about moving so we would have room for her. She would've been the sporty Swan, Emma would've been her name. Dad would try to teach the both of us baseball and she would be super good at it and I would just get hit in the face. Then there would've been our little brother, Jackson just a year later. We would've been really close, my brother and I of course being best friends. Mom would go to all his football games and attempt at making the team cookies. And at each of our graduations mom would bawl, especially at Jackson's. Dad would cry too, but very subtly. This would've been the year he graduated, mom would be a complete wreck and Emma would be jealous of all the attention we got. But dad would remind her that she was his favorite. Life would've been really good.

I was drawn out of my imagination when Alice honked the horn from her yellow Porsche. At first I would've thought her to be stuck up, but she really wasn't. Rose told me how proud they all were of little Alice for making a name for herself in the fashion world, already earning much better money than I probably ever would. The first thing she'd brought after coming back to the states was her car. It was her baby.

It took us less than an hour to get to Port Angeles, Alice drove insanely fast, and not just ten miles over the speed limit fast. Somehow she managed to not get pulled over though, and although I felt a little sick by the time we reached The _Wildfire Grill_ I was so excited to be spending the day with the two of them. Just like she had said, I knew we were going to be best friends.

I asked about their brother, when he was coming and anything else I could think of. "You'll love him Bella! If you two aren't best friends then you'll definitely be together. He's perfect, so nice, handsome, and we'd all be sisters!"

"She's already got her own Edward! And she actually said she'd give him a chance!"

Before the two could get overly excited I put my hands up in defense. "I _said_ I'd give him a chance if we ran into each other.."

"Come on, okay so if you don't see club Edward again promise me you'll go on a date with my Edward? He's gonna be here in three weeks, plenty of time to decide!" Alice begged, giving me puppy eyes and putting her hands together. She was too adorable to say no to.

Chugging my wine I nodded "Fine! How about when he comes into town we have dinner at your parents and if he seems cool we'll go out?!"

Practically jumping on me Alice squealed in delight. "You _won't_ regret this Bella!"

Four weeks had gone by and I couldn't stop thinking about the gorgeous bronze haired boy. His beautiful green eyes were engrained in my mind, forever piercing my soul. But I hadn't seen him around town, and whenever I found myself driving around his street there would be no lights on, or car in the driveway. So as fate would have it, we weren't meant to be.

Tonight was the night I would meet the rest of the Cullen family, Edward just flew in finally to start his residency along side his father. Esme had even took it upon herself to call me and make sure I liked eggplant parmesan and white wine. She was so sweet, and literally perfect. I could understand why all the children around town loved Mrs. Cullen. Dad told me all about the trips she'd brought the kids on, including the police station.

Before going over to for dinner with everyone I had to finish my shift at Newton's. I had picked up right where I'd left off, knowing exactly where everything was. Even Mike and Jess had came in to see me. I noticed a small bump protruding from her hips while she hipped a small little boy. Mike Jr. was his name, he was about a year old and definitely was his father's son.

I groaned as I felt the nausea hit me once again, it'd been off and on the past few weeks. Although summer was practically here I knew everyone was getting some stomach bug. With Mrs. Newton's eyes on me my entire shift I refrained from running away and vomiting. Wasn't exactly professional. I just hoped I wouldn't feel like this once I got out.

Finally it came time for my break, I ran to the bathroom. I leaned over the toilet bowl, emptying the peanut butter toast I'd had for breakfast. Thankfully it did the trick, I felt somewhat better. Standing up I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead and went to wash my hands. Next to the soap I couldn't help but catch a glance at the tampon dispenser. It wasn't much until I looked at it once again, thinking about my period this time. I couldn't even remember the last time I had it, I'd been so busy with getting into the swing of life here in Forks again. Trying to figure out when the last time was I thought back to the week of finals. Had it really been that long?

Putting the pieces together I finally asked myself _the_ question. Could I be pregnant? Had Edward and I even used condoms that night? I was on birth control but that could fail, right? Pulling my phone from my pocket I checked the time, I still had twenty five minutes left of my lunch break. Would it even be worth going to see if I were pregnant? I never listened to sex ed in high school and even if I had did they tell us how soon you can tell?

Another wave of nausea hit me, I took it as a sign. Walking from the bathroom I grabbed my purse shouting to the back "I'm gonna go grab some lunch, be back in ten." Thankfully across the street was a pharmacy, they had to have the really good tests. I did a walkthrough of the store making sure nobody I knew was there to see me freak out. Once the coast was clear I found the wall full of pregnancy tests. Some were three dollars and others were as much as thirty, claiming to tell you seven days before you even missed your period. Not wanting to cheap out I grabbed the most expensive fanciest looking one. I shielded my face as much as I could so I couldn't see the judgment of the cashier.

Stuffing it into my purse as well as a bag of chips and water I marched back over to Newton's. Ten minutes were left of my break, this thing said it worked in three. Setting my purse on the counter I took the test box out stuffing it under my shirt. Pulling my pants down I read the directions four times before finally getting to it.

Setting it down on the sink I set the timer on my phone, pacing back and fourth. What would I even do if I was pregnant? I'd never thought about kids, I mean in a serious manner. I didn't even really know the father, he'd been a one night stand who possibly didn't even live here anymore. There was no way of contacting him, finding him in a phone book or even getting him to listen. Could I be a single mother living in Seattle, juggling a job and life? I tried to calm myself down knowing I could really just be sick and missing my period because of stress. What after seemed like hours the timer on my phone went off. Did I even want to look?

 **PREGNANT** it read in big bold pink letters. The tears immediately started pouring down my face, and there was nothing I could do about it. There was one thing I was sure of, I could not continue work without sobbing. Calming down once again I walked out towards the office, knocking on the wall. "Mrs. Newton, I'm really sorry but I've got that stomach bug going around and would like to know if I could take the rest of the day off?"

"Of course sweetheart, wouldn't want you getting any of our customers sick!"

Hanging up my red apron on the back wall I offered a smile that didn't completely reach my sad eyes. "No we wouldn't Mrs. Newton. Thank you. I'll see you next week."

What the hell was I going to do? I didn't want to go home and self-pity and wallow in my confusion and anger. This was the first time I'd ever felt pissed off at myself for being so careless with sleeping around. In the back of my mind I always knew that this or an STD would be a possibility, just like with cancer or any other terminal illness, you know you could end up with it any day but when it happens you never thought it'd be you.

It wasn't like I was a sixteen year old nerd from the band who slept with the quarter back and couldn't tell my dad. I was an independent woman with a college degree, who wouldn't have to worry about getting yelled at. My dad would just probably congratulate me and ask some questions. There really wasn't anything he could do other than ask me to move into my apartment a little earlier than usual. He might've even been excited.

Before I knew it I was driving aimlessly around the town of Forks, finding myself driving down his road. Instead of the usual emptiness there was a shiny silver Volvo in the driveway. My mind went through the different scenarios of what would happen if I were to park my car right now and walk right in. How does one even do that? Walk up to a man whose practically a stranger and say "Hey so remember that time we slept together? I kinda got pregnant and the child's yours. So what have you been up to?" Not exactly the easiest thing to do.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, it was Rose's personal ringtone. I completely forgot about dinner tonight. It was still a few hours away so I had time to figure out if I was even gonna show up.

"Hey Rose." I knew she'd immediately be able to tell something was up.

I was right. "Bella, you left work early and your voice isn't as peppy. What's going on?"

Would it be right to tell her over the phone? If I kept it from her she'd be mad, even if it were just a few hours. "Rose, I'm freaking out. Please stay calm because I can't so you have to be."

"You know I'm here for you Iz." She only called me that when things were serious.

I parked the car in a pull-off, knowing I would start crying. "I'm like almost 100% sure I'm pregnant." I braced myself for her reaction.

Thankfully she remained calm. I knew I could count on her. "Have you gone to the doctors yet? If not book your appointment and I'll go with you. We need to get this figured out."

Again, I was right. Tears were flowing once again. "I took a test today at work and that's why I left. I'll let you know when the doctors is. I can't thank you enough Rose."

"Bella, you're my best friend. I'm always going to be here for you. We can talk about it after dinner. You still wanna do dinner? If not I can tell Esme you're sick?"

I wanted things to not be weird, if I sat home I'd cry more. "No, I'll be there. It'll be fun, right?"

"Right. I love you so much, everything's gonna be okay."

"Love you too Rosie."

Knowing that someone else knew my secret I felt a little better. Taking her advice I drove off to the hospital, booking an appointment after going through paperwork and what not. I texted Rosalie the information letting her know every little detail they had told me. The woman had given me a pamphlet giving me some of my options, since I had guessed how far along I was she told me abortion was still an option. Then there was always adoption, or just keeping it. I believed in every woman's choice and her choosing what was right for her. But at the moment I didn't know what was right for me. Did I even want this baby? Would another family be able to love him or her more than I could ever?

I didn't have time to think about this right now. I gathered myself and drove home, I even put some music on. For a few moments things seemed okay. But then I realized seeing my father's cruiser in our driveway that I had to let him know. It'd be wrong keeping a secret this big when he'd given me no problems about staying here over the summer. Sliding out my car my puddle boots sloshed in the mud up to the steps. A memory out of nowhere hit me.

As I little girl I loved playing in the rain, even if my dad did yell at me for getting sick almost on purpose. Anyways there were these yellow polka dots boots I had that were practically falling apart by the time I'd grown out of them. I never knew why I loved them so much, but I loved Forks just because of the rain. Almost every day in the spring I'd run outside jumping around sloshing the mud all around. When my dad would call me in for dinner I'd run inside and make sure to clean them real well. Even if I was a clumsy, messy, sick child I think my dad enjoyed those memories too. He'd always smile this shy smile at dinner after I told him how much fun I had. I wanted that. I wanted my daughter to see little things in her day and think about how we would go to the park and play for hours together. Or remember how we went to get ice cream together at the nicest place in town every Thursday after ballet lessons.

I began to cry thinking about all the things I would be able to provide her, or even him, with that I'd never had. It was currently fuzzy as to if I'd be doing this alone or not, but I would be a mother and father to my baby if need be. Instead of occasionally distant and regretful I could focus all my energy and love on my child. I'd give her unconditional love. So much love.

Knowing my dad would be suspicious waiting for me to come in I composed myself, walking into the kitchen. Like I guessed he was sitting in the living room watching baseball with a beer in hand and chips on the coffee table. Seeing him in a good mood made me chicken out. I felt like a teenage girl once again, nervous to tell her daddy she screwed up. I just couldn't look him in the eye and tell him my child didn't really have a dad at the moment. Charlie was a real simple man, he believed in a few things and stood his ground on them. Although he had told me monogamy wasn't realistic many times, I don't exactly think he'd enjoy hearing about my sex life.

"Hey Bells, how was work?" He asked me when I entered the front door.

I smiled, thankful that he hadn't heard I left. "Good, pretty slow today. But I gotta get ready, I'm having dinner over at the Cullens. You got dinner handled?" He chuckled taking a chip from the bag. "And by dinner I don't mean chips and beer dad."

Rolling his brown eyes he shooed me. "You don't need to worry about me kiddo, I handled taking care of myself for four years and I'll do it again once you're gone. Don't have to worry 'bout me."

The Cullen's home was extremely gorgeous, before they had moved to town it'd been practically abandoned. But then Esme came in saw the potential and turned into the prettiest house in town. Rose had been talking about her plans to possibly start her own interior design business. But she had also loved working with children so it was a tough decision. I drove up the long winding driveway, it was surrounded by trees and took a moment to get to. Along with the two garages, there was a pool, pool house and a giant backyard. The entire driveway was lined with beautiful glowing lights, strung from tree to tree. I was practically stunned into silence, in total awe of their house. I noticed Alice's bright yellow car and Emmett's giant silver jeep, which Rosalie hated. She'd been nagging him to get rid of it before they had a baby. Although he agreed I knew he would be so upset trading a hot big car like that for a mom van. Oh god. Would I have to get a mom van?

I turned the key, opening my door. Suddenly my nerves got the best of me, that or it was "Morning Sickness" or as I liked to call it "Sickness." Hopefully food would do me some good. Walking in the smell of eggplant parmesan hit me hard, normally I could eat three servings of it the first round but at the moment I didn't know if I'd even be able to stomach half that. Hiding my pregnancy would be a lot harder than I thought.

"Bella! Sweetheart you look amazing!" Esme greeted me with a giant hug. "I hope you don't mind waiting just a few more minutes, our dear Edward is running late."

I looked around "Of course, no problem at all! You need any help with anything Esme?"

She took my jacket from me, setting it on the coat hanger. "No no no! You're the guest. Please help yourself to some wine, Rosie said you loved white wine!"

Patting my stomach I smiled "I'm actually not feeling that well, I'll actually just have a glass of water." She lead me to the dining room where everyone was standing around talking. Alice held onto Jasper showing her dad sketches.

"Carlisle sweetie, Bella's arrived!" Esme brought me over. "Esme, this is Bella, Bella this is my sweet sweet husband Carlisle."

I took his hand, shaking it. "Dr. Cullen it's an absolute pleasure to meet you. Emmett never stops talking about you."

"Bella please call me Carlisle. It's great to know my son actually does look up to me." He chuckled with his soft spoken voice. He was just as amazing as the others. "We're all very excited to have you join us."

Rosalie spoke up, asking me to assist her to the bathroom. I knew we would have to talk about it. And at the moment I didn't want to acknowledge my imperfections while hanging out with the most perfect humans in the universe. As she dragged me down the hallway I couldn't help but marvel in all the glory. Once the door closed behind us she grabbed me into a tight hug. "Oh Bella. How are you doing?!"

"I'm okay..I decided to keep it ya know?" I looked down not sure what to expect from her.

Once again I was taken into a giant hug. "Oh Bella! I'm so happy for you, I really am! We can talk about it all later, but I mean I'm gonna be the god mom right?"

Laughing I wiped a stray tear. "Of course you are Auntie Rose."

"Let's get out there, I think I hear Edward." Rose opened the door.

The voice sounded extremely familiar. I just couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before. "I've actually already got my house all set up-" Entering the dining room I saw the bronze locks that'd been all too familiar four weeks ago. "Bella?!"

And before I could get a surprised "Edward?!" out when I opened my mouth vomit came out, instead. Fuck.


	3. So, I'm like pregnant?

The Hook-Up Queen

"Esme, I am so sorry. Please let me clean up!" My cheeks were permanently red, I swear. I had puked in front of them all and on what I assume was an expensive rug. Of course nobody was rude about it, Esme brought me to the bathroom making sure I was alright. None the less I was so embarrassed. Although nobody said anything I knew they were wondering how we knew each other. Oh if they only knew.

Taking my hands in hers she carefully hugged me. "No sweetheart, you obviously aren't feeling well. Please, Edward will drive you home. Won't you dear?"

"Of course Bella, I'll go grab your jacket." He left me and Esme alone while everyone remained in the living room.

Standing up she took both my hands. "Try ginger for the morning sickness dear." I gave her a look of confusion. "I've had three children Bella, I know. You're glowing in a way only mother's know."

This of course made me start crying, I felt more scared than I had in a while. "I..I just found out."

"Congratulations sweetie, a child is an absolute blessing. Are you happy?" She held my trebling hands.

I shrugged "I don't know, I mean I think I am. I'm gonna keep it."  
I felt like a little girl as she coddled me, talking to me as if I were going to break if she talked any louder. "You need to tell him, he deserves to know." How did this woman know everything?

"I'm just scared, really scared about all of this." I explained, I however knew she was completely understanding somehow. "How'd you know?"

We walked to the door so Edward couldn't hear anything that was being said. "You two knew each other, the way you were looking at him. The way he looked at you. I know my son very well honey. And I know you're scared, every new mother is no matter the circumstances. Every one of my pregnancies I was scared, even the third. But you've got give him the chance to be scared with you."

I couldn't of felt more thankful for anyone more than I did in that moment. Esme Cullen told me everything I needed to hear. It didn't make me any less scared but it made me feel better. And I didn't know if I was going to tell Edward at the moment but I knew I would tell him, soon. She had reassured me that he would probably freak out only because he would be scared too but no matter what he'd come around and man up.

"Thank you for everything Esme, really. And once again I'm so sorry about ruining your rug." I laughed giving her a hug as Edward handed me my jacket.

Giving me a gentle squeeze she laughed along with me. "It's okay Bella, it's replaceable. You go home and get some rest, when you're feeling better we'll have to do it again."

I said my goodbyes to everyone else, earning a look from Rosalie as I walked out the door alone with Edward. It would be the first time we were alone, and I prayed he'd avoid the topic that I didn't want to talk about. I knew hearing him would only make me feel more guilty, resulting in me shouting it at an inappropriate moment.

But of course, things didn't always work out how I wanted them to.

"So Bella, I had no idea you were the Bella my brother and Rose were talking about." He explained as we drove down the road.

I laughed "Trust me, I never imagined I'd sleep with Emmett and Alice's brother. I just thought you were some random Edward in the middle of Port Angeles."

We shared a brief laugh followed by a moment of silence before he started talking again. "Before you ran out I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go out again..but Rose mentioned how you weren't really the commitment type.."

Blood rushed to my cheeks. "How much did Rose tell you?" I couldn't be mad, she had no idea this was the guy I had already slept with. Heck, I didn't even know.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's no big deal."

Why was I so flustered? Every other guy we knew literally knew everything about my habits and I never cared? Was it because this was the father of my child? That was still weird. "It is, I don't know why..I mean I do know why but it's dumb." I didn't realize we were back into town. "Oh I just live down that road."

He shook his head looking back to me. "I'm sure it's not dumb Bella, everyone's fucked up in their own ways."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

As we pulled up to my house he turned to face me. "But I was still wondering, if maybe you'd wanna-"

He was going to ask me out, or to grab a bite to eat. And he had no idea. God, keeping this from him made me a bad person. Did it? Was I so evil for wanting to keep this my little secret for a little while? Rosalie and Esme weren't going to tell anyone, but then again if I didn't ever tell Edward, she would. And eventually I'd get super fat, like my ankles would swell up fat. There was no hiding that, was there? "Edward I'm pregnant."

Before he could react in anyway, I jumped out of the car not looking back once. What the hell did I just do?

 **Hey guys! I know it's short but I just got back from vacation and figured i'd give you guys a little something. Please leave a review, I have guest reviews on so feel free to just stop by and leave a little something. Thanks so much.**


	4. We'll get by

The Hook-Up Queen

Upon entering the house I quietly slammed the door shut, leaning against it. Feeling almost every emotion possible in that moment I turned my back sliding down until my knees were covering my tear stained face. I was angry that this was the situation I'd put my child in, it was my idiotic and irresponsible tendencies that had gotten us in this position. I was sad for him or her, that they'd never know a life with a mother and father together just as I had.

I wiped my tears standing up, not wanting my father to find me in this state. There was still the fact that he had no idea what was going on with me. My stomach grumbled, alerting me little one was hungry. Rubbing my little growing bump I chuckled "Sorry momma's such a mess. I promise I won't always be like this. Not to blame it on you little one but you are making me a little extra crazy."

Preparing a turkey and pickle sandwich I glanced out the kitchen window facing the front yard. He was still here, just standing outside his car with his face in his hands. Why was this so hard? Part of me desperately wanted to go and talk to him but the other was so afraid of what would come of the conversation. Was he standing there wondering how he was going to leave the two of us behind while continuing his career here? Or if he was even going to leave us behind? This was all too confusing.

Not exactly sure of what to do I began walking out the door, sandwich in hand. He didn't look up from the ground as I leaned up against the car as well. For a few minutes we sat their in silence, he recognized that I was there, looking to me for just a moment. Finally speaking up he gave me a poker face "Go for a drive with me?"

Hopping in the cool car we didn't speak the entire drive, the soft classical music playing in the background. The tension in the air was awkward with neither of us knowing how the other was feeling. After driving around for however long, I'd stopped counting minutes, we made a stop near a meadow. The moonlight was illuminating all the flowers blossoming around it. In my childhood I'd never come across this place, yet he was here less than two weeks and he found a spot.

"Where are we?" I asked breaking the silence.

He opened his door "It's just a few miles outside of town, I found it while searching for my house here. I got lost and parked here, but I thought this meadow was gorgeous. I've been coming here after hard days at work."

We avoided the topic like the plague. "You're a doctor right? Well, eventually a doctor that is."

"That's right. I just finished up my internship in Chicago, it was wonderful there but I missed my family. I've barely seen them since I started med school, so even though most of my time will be at the hospital I'll be closer to them. So now I've just got to finish my residency, then I'll officially be a surgeon." Pausing he huffed looking back to me. "I think Rose mentioned you were a journalism major?"

Nodding I sighed, a subject I didn't want to talk about. But anything to avoid the real reason we were here. "Yeah, I just have no idea what to do with that. I'm moving back to Seattle once the summer is over to figure that out."

Edward opened his mouth, but shut it. He did this twice before finally speaking again. "Bella we can't ignore this topic forever. I mean you're gonna have a baby, we're gonna have a baby."

"Before we go any further with this conversation I need to let you know, you don't have to do this. I had a choice so you get one. If you wanna walk out and never talk to us again, you can. Or if you even wanna be Uncle Edward who comes around every holiday and sends awesome presents I'm okay with that too. This is your choice as much as it was mine."

He looked at me for a moment, it was angry. I prepared myself for yelling or hearing how having a kid would ruin my life. Instead when he spoke, it wasn't anger, he was calm. "Why would I ever want to leave my child, our child alone? What kind of man would I be if I just left you in this? I know we don't know a lot about each other, the only thing I really know about you is your name, your major and where you live," we both laughed at the fact. "but I do know you're a good person and that we're gonna have a baby in a little while. I wanna be there Bella, I really want to."

I couldn't help but cry a little bit when he was done with his mini speech. Like usual I had prepared myself to hear the absolute worst. "I'm really glad you wanna be here for our little guy and me."

"Little guy?" He laughed .

The air was completely different than it had been when we drove here. Instead of mystery and feeling frightened, we both felt reassured and excited for what was going to come. Although we had a long road ahead of us with plenty of things to decide in the future we felt good. "Just a feeling."

 **Month Two**

A few weeks had passed since that night with Edward and Esme. We had talked on the phone a few times and had made an appointment together at the hospital. Esme promised to let us tell everyone, which we were thankful for. Rose had been getting antsy when it came to that. She had trouble keeping anything from Emmett. But she still respected our wishes. Until we had the first appointment and made sure everything was alright we didn't want a bunch of people knowing.

My dad still had no idea but began to grow suspicious of my constant puking. It was getting harder and harder to keep it from him. He'd asked about it a few times suggesting I head to the doctors. My excuse was work, despite barely working at all.

My clothes were starting to get a little tighter too, mostly my bras and jeans. My little bump was getting bigger and bigger by the weeks. Everyone had noticed my lack for going out and tits getting giant. Including Emmett. "Come on Bells, I have work all the time and I need to go out for some drinks. Plus don't you wanna get laid?" He begged one night as the six of us hung out at their apartment. Rose helped hide our secret by pouring me "white wine."

"Emmett, I have to get my act together before I start an actual career. Might as well turn into a wine-o while I'm young." I used as an excuse.

Edward changed the subject helping me out. "Plus some of us have to grow up unlike you ever will, right Emmett?"

In the two weeks since our baby conversation I would consider the two of us friends, or on the way to becoming friends. He would call me every day before or after his shift and ask about the baby, how I was doing, the usual. Edward was a really great guy, better than I could've ever asked for. Along with the everyday calls he'd brought me over a couple baby books, food almost every night that he wasn't at work. We got into a nice little routine.

"Sweetie, do you want me to come with you? I've been through this three times, I know all the right questions to ask." Esme called me the day before my appointment. She'd taken a real liking to her son's baby mama.

I looked through the fridge shoving pepperoni in my mouth. "I'm good Esme, I think it's a good idea if this is just Edward and I. But I promise you can come next time!"

She sighed "Of course sweetie, you two call me right after and let me know how my little one is doing. Okay?"

"Okay Esme. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye!" I felt so blessed that all the people who knew so far had been extremely supportive with the entire thing. She was the mother I'd never had. Esme Cullen was exactly what I think my mom would've been like. Renee would've known too, and helped me tell my dad. Her and Edward's mom would call each other up to talk about their first grandchild together. Having a baby was the time you needed a mother most.

Today was the day we'd get to see our baby for the very first time. I was feeling mixed emotions. I was excited to finally hear his heartbeat, see him, and get to know when he'd make his entrance into the world. Edward and I guess somewhere around the end of January or early February. There was still many more things I'd want to know but those would have to wait. With the babies father being a future doctor he had all the questions for the doctor, the real questions. All I wanted to know is if it was a he or she, if it was healthy and how long I'd have to wait.

Edward had already asked me if I was okay with getting screening done, which I'd had no idea about until he mentioned it a few days ago. Basically it'd be a test to make sure our babies overall health like if they had the down syndrome gene, or other things. We both agreed we didn't care as long as it wasn't life threatening.

Thankfully since the appointment was at the hospital he worked at he was able to make the appointment with me. He was excited to introduce me to his resident friends along with his boss, Dr. Sam Uley was a world renowned brain surgeon, one of the best in the country. It was an honor to be working with him according to Edward especially in such a small hospital.

I met him in the front of the hospital, lab coat and all. There was no denying he looked handsome in his scrubs. But we, mostly mentally, had agreed to just be friends and work together in this. There had been no further discussions about that night, only about our baby. "Hey Bella, how are you and little one feeling today?"

I rubbed the little bump. "Haven't thrown up yet so that's a plus, but I'm not holding my breath so we'll see."

He chuckled leading me into his workplace, feeling so comfortable waving to the staff. "I was wondering if you wanted to stick around after the appointment, have lunch with my friends and I? That is if you don't have plans."

"I would love to Edward! Plus we do have a lot more to know about each other, might as well start here." And it wouldn't hurt to get familiar with this place, I would most likely be having my kid here.

We walked to the OBGYN section of the hospital, and got in almost immediately. Perks of the baby daddy working as a resident. They all seemed to be extra friendly in their pink scrubs too. We filled out the paper work together, chatted with the nurse as she did all the workup before the OBGYN came in, and within ten minutes she was in the room. Doctor Leah Clearwater Uley, who was not only an OB but a neonatal surgeon as well. She'd be delivering our baby as well as helping us throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Her red hair and charming smile was welcoming, although the way she looked at my baby daddy wasn't exactly welcoming.

"Everything looks good with your baby you two, growing at the perfect rate for being eight weeks along. And your due date is February 18th, so we're gonna schedule an appointment for four weeks. You'll be about twelve weeks at the time, that's when your second trimester begins, so we're gonna schedule your screening for three weeks. Is that alright ?"

He looked to me, I gave him a nod. I trusted him with all the medical stuff, he after all had been to medical school. "That's perfect Dr. Uley. Thank you very much for getting us in so quickly."

Once she left the room we made an the two appointments necessary and made our way to the surgical floor. "See that girl over there? Emily Young, her mom was famous for creating the Young method in surgery. Anyways she was with Dr. Uley before his wife came back from New York where they'd been living before she had an affair with his best friend. Now the sexual tension in the hospital is at an all time high." I looked Emily never guessing she would've had an affair with an attending. "And that's Carmen Wolfe, she's currently with our other cardio attending Eleazar Denali, he's one of the best, other than my father of course. She was pregnant with his child but had an ectopic pregnancy a few weeks ago, it was really bad I guess."

"And you got all this drama in just the few weeks you've been working here." I chuckled, this hospital was more like a damn soap opera.

He laughed as we stepped onto the elevator. "But they're all super nice, then there's the asshole Paul Lahote, and he and Rachel Black are on and off again although she's kinda with a patient. And Seth Clearwater is our OBGYN's brother he's a dorky little guy but a great friend. They all have been really kind to me."

He was right, they were all kind and didn't make things awkward during lunch. They had no idea about our baby, and we were thankful for patient doctor confidentiality. However they did ask about our relationship, well at least Paul did. "So are you guys screwing or what?"

I chocked on my salad just a little bit. While Edward was a little offended I wasn't the least bit. Not wanting him to freak out on the guy I laughed "No, Edward and I are just friends."

Seth the nice one chuckled "Well I think that's great, nothing wrong with having friends. Right Edward?"

Me and Edward could remain friends throughout the next eighteen years, right?


	5. Wasn't expecting that

The Hook Up Queen

Tonight was take two on family dinner at the Cullen's house and thankfully this time my morning sickness was to a minimal. Tomorrow I'd be eleven weeks and would have my screening appointment. Both Edward and I were extremely nervous for that. Even more so than we were to tell everyone. Esme and Rosalie had been politely urging us, "The secret is getting too much to hide!" Like they had an actual idea.

I hated keeping this from my dad, I wanted him to know just how excited I actually was. Every once and a while as I walked through different stores I'd see baby clothes or some little toy and I'd feel the little butterflies in my belly. And even feel flattered when moms would ask me how far along I was. Maybe it really was just a mom thing like Esme said.

Other than my body changing my mentality had done a complete 360. My thoughts were always centered around the little person growing inside me. With some reluctance I called my landlord in Seattle and explained my predicament. I wanted to raise my child around family unlike I had. Since I hadn't yet paid anything he let me out of the deal, thankfully. Now not only was I pregnant, practically jobless I was now homeless. With no idea how my father would react I needed to find a home quick. Thankfully Edward had agreed to go look at apartments with me before dinner. Before agreeing he did however offer for me to live with him. I politely declined.

I threw on a flowing white sweater a pair of jeans, that were just a little to snug for my comfort but worked anyways. Mentally I made a note to have Rose take me maternity shopping soon.

"Where you heading out to?" Dad asked as I walked into our kitchen, brightly lightened thanks to the surprising sunshine.

I grabbed eggs from the fridge, I couldn't stop eating them. It was almost every single day lately that I would have to make a stop at the grocery store. Betty Graham was probably becoming suspicious at this point. "Edward Cullen and I are going job scouting for me. Figured he'd be smart with all that stuff."

Setting his paper down he looked at me. "Thought you said you were going back to Seattle after the summers done?"

"Well plans change dad. I actually even called my landlord and told him to rent the apartment out to someone else."

As I began frying up the eggs he mentioned "Ya know Bells, you can just stay here until you figure things out."

Flipping the eggs I turned to face him, moving towards the toaster. "Well that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about dad. I think there's something you need to know before you extended that welcome." His attention was now fully on me as he furrowed his eyebrows. "I found out a little bit ago but I wanted to make sure everything was okay. And for the most part they are. I'm uh, I'm gonna have a baby."

It was silent for a couple moments, making me even more scared than I already was. "Wow, Bells. Congratulations I guess." Dad was never one for words. "Are you happy?"

I let out a breath of relief turning back towards my breakfast. "Yeah, I guess. I mean I'm surprised as anyone else is."

"Good for you kiddo. If you're happy than so am I. And you know if you uh can't find a place or just wanna stay here for a little while after the babies born, you're more than welcome to."

I smiled grabbing a plate from the cupboard. "Thanks dad." That was the end of the conversation. Together we sat in silence, he sipping on his coffee and reading the paper while I plowed down scrabbled eggs and milk. I felt thankful that for now there weren't too many questions, not even about who the father was. But I knew my dad wasn't a dumb man, he was the freaking Police Chief for christ's sake! He could put two and two together.

Finally Edward pulled up in his shiny silver Volvo a little past ten. He was always on time. Never a minute too early and never a second too late. I swore sometimes he had some kind of powers. I waved to my dad throwing a water bottle in my purse a throwing on my aviators. Like the gentleman he was before I could even make it past the front step Edward was out of his seat opening the passenger door for me. "How're you and little one this morning?"

Little one had been nonverbally decided to be the nickname for the baby until we came up with a name. Although Edward fought me on it I was determined at that thought that we were having a boy. But the earliest we could try wasn't for a few more weeks. "We're both doing good, excited to hopefully find our new home."

"My offer is still extended to you two, especially if we don't find a place before you tell your dad." He said getting into the driver's side of the car, starting our ride. Edward was very understanding about my fears. I kept having to tell myself this, he was just being a generous friend. Plus I was carrying his kid if I wasn't he wouldn't even offer.

Being reminded I practically jumped from my seat. "Actually, I told him this morning. It just felt right, and he's been mentioning how sick I am all the time." Turning his attention fully towards me I started again before he freaked out. "And he took it pretty well, oddly enough we barely talked about it."

"That's great Bella! See Esme was right, your dad can't be mad at you. You're his only child. I know I'd never be able to kick our child out, ever."

We arrived in town with still a half hour to spare, so we decided to hit up the cafe in town. Even though I had barely just eaten I couldn't deny a bagel and some decaf coffee. My hunger had been increasing although I planned on trying to not give into so many pregnancy cravings. However that didn't seem to be working, maybe I'd look into a gym pass?

"So, your dad really took it well?" Edward said sitting down with our food near the window.

I bit right into my bagel, careful not to let out a moan. Nodding with a full-mouth I swallowed eventually answering. "Like I said, not much was said but there was no screaming or tears. Which I'm so happy about."

Chuckling he grabbed my hand, in a total friend way. "I'm hoping my family takes it well, at least my mother knows. That way she can help calm anyone down, possibly my father."

"I'm sure your father will be elated, you're at least on your feet. I don't even have my own apartment let alone a real job." I continued munching before I felt his thumb stroke my hand. Still friendly.

Setting down his coffee he licked his full plump lips. "Bella, you're figuring things out and that's more than some mother's are doing for their children. You'll get everything together, I know it."

Edward had been everything I could've asked for in a father for my child, the one I never knew I needed. He'd been so kind to me even when given an out, the opportunity to leave one family behind and start a new one. God knows plenty of men did just that. But we were just two people having a baby, who eventually became friends. And that's all we could ever be.

The first apartment we were shown was cute, right across from the grocery store and close to a park. However Edward found numerous problems mostly due to the fact that he was use to fancier more expensive apartments. So we kept looking for the next three hours. In that time we toured four other apartments, all of which once again I found perfectly fine where he refused to even acknowledge their nice qualities. And when we argued about it I couldn't stay mad for long, he was too convincing.

He dropped me off at home with plenty of time to get ready for dinner. I hadn't realized how nervous I actually was until Edward's lights were shining through my window. Upon walking downstairs I gasped, shocked to see him talking with my father over a cup of coffee.

"I promise sir, I will not leave your daughter or the baby's side. This is just as much as my responsibility as it is hers." Why was he such a good guy?

My dad wasn't one for words, so as I expected all he said back was "Good man. Hope your a man of your words Edward."

We got into the car for the second time today, the only difference was our impending nerves. This wasn't something that could be avoided any longer, especially when my waistline was expanding every day. I felt my hands shaking on my lap the entire ride over. I could tell Edward was nervous as well, he too didn't say a single word.

Of course the cars already lined the small mansions driveway. Seeing them just made my nerves ten times worse. I just couldn't pretend everything was promised to be okay, I knew something was bound to go wrong. It was just how life was. Perhaps if my dad had a worse reaction things here would go completely smooth.

I hadn't noticed Edward opening my door until he touched my hand. In that moment I felt a shutter go through my body. For a moment my mind could't help but think it was due to our touch, but I shook my head coming back into reality. "Everything's going to be okay Bella. I promise you this."

Rolling my eyes I got out of the car. "You can't promise that, so please stop saying that."

Walking together he chuckled, holding my hand up the driveway. "Okay, okay. How about instead we can can say..no matter what we'll be here for each other?"

"That..that sounds better. I like that. Thank you Edward."

Opening the door he announced our arrival. Here it goes, I guess.

Dinner settled in with the fancy china and stares from Rosalie and Esme. Thankfully nobody noticed how quiet both Edward and I were being.

Esme eventually brought out the dessert, and wine for everyone..except for me. But to avoid questions she poured some sparkling grape juice into my cup. We chuckled to ourselves as she sat back down.

"So Alice, you and Jasper found an apartment?" Esme mentioned sipping on her wine.

Alice chuckled pulling her hands from off her lap, "Yes, we did. But we've decided to decline it…because we're well I guess theres no better way to say this but Jasper and I are having a baby **and** just got engaged!" Flashing her left hand we saw the small but gorgeous diamond ring on her finger.

Shit.

 **Hey everyone! Thanks everyone for the reviews, I know this is short but I do plan on writing more this small break for Thanksgiving! For some reason I had trouble getting through this chapter. But I promise the next chapter will be longer, leave me a review and happy holidays no matter what you celebrate!**


	6. Sincerely, The Hook-Up Queen

The Hook-Up Queen

Unfortunately for me word vomit seemed to be my thing, but thankfully this time there was no _actual_ vomit to accompany it. My word vomit also seemed to be considerate allowing Alice and Jasper a few moments to be giddy with the family before I made our announcement. "I'm pregnant, with Edward's baby." Instead of the excitement and loudness that followed the previous pregnancy we received an awkward silence, which was expected. I couldn't blame anyone in being shocked. Hell, I was still shocked.

Finally the silence was broken one minute forty-two seconds later by none other than Emmett. Which once again was expected. "No way! Bella screwed my brother!"

"Emmett Lawrence Cullen! We are at the dinner table young man, please watch your manners." Esme immediately got after him. "I think what we all want to say is, congratulations to Bella and Edward." She looked over to her husband, urging him to go on.

Smiling he chuckled. "Of course, we're all extremely excited to not only be blessed with one new family member but four. Two new grandchildren all within the same year, and two new children!"

"I'm eight weeks along, due in March! How far are you? I assume not that far because you're still as tiny as ever! Either way our babies are going to be so close in age! It's gonna be so great!" Alice talked at a million miles an hour joining my side as she took my hand, rubbing it over her tiny baby bump.

I chuckled lifting my sweater to reveal the growing bump I had. "Ten weeks, we're not that far apart! Due February 18th!"

Never had I felt a room with so much joy and excitement. Everyone eventually settled down back into the casual rhythm of dinner. I didn't know why I had been so nervous to tell the Cullen's about their new addition. They'd been more accepting than I could've ever imagined or wanted. It was even better.

 **Twelve Weeks**

My life had settled into a perfect little routine, one that I had never envisioned for myself. I turned into that happy person who went out to brunch and bought cute gender neutral baby clothes. And while aware of my ever so changing life, I didn't mind it. I didn't hate the person I was becoming.

Alice and I were also becoming much better friends, bonding over our pregnancies. We exchanged tips and things we'd learned so far about this new experience we were both experiencing. It was comforting having someone knowing exactly what you were going through. Plus she wasn't bad company.

She wasn't the only one I'd gotten closer to in the following weeks of my announcement. Carlisle Cullen reached out, letting me know if I needed anything even non medical he was there. I'd created a little family in a matter of weeks. I was actually happy.

"I've always been tiny, never more than ninety pounds. I mean I'm healthy, doctors said it was just how I am. Mom was always concerned because Em and Edward are big boys, you know. I wonder if my baby will be tiny, I mean Jazz isn't little. He's average, not in the sack but you know what I mean?" I chuckled as she muttered on. We decided to go shopping before my appointment, she was buying clothes for little boys and had been for weeks. She was convinced that I would be having a girl and she a boy, well two boys. Although during her first appointment the doctor didn't announce multiples Alice had a gut feeling. According to all those who knew her much better than I, you never second guess Alice Cullen. A perfect balance. "Anyways my jeans are starting to not fit and I hate the way mom jeans look. God, one thing I'm not letting change about me is my fashion sense. How about these overalls! So cute, ugh I have to grab the pink pair for your little girl."

I rolled my eyes looking at the white blanket trimmed with pink. I felt so tempted to buy it. To indulge on Alice's suspicion and just buy pink. "I know it's early but..I've been thinking of names. Have you?"

She smiled rubbing her bump. "Of course, Bells I've been thinking of names for years. Ever since I met Jazz. Anyways we both like Cooper and Theo, Cooper Hunter after his dad and Theo Carlisle after my dad. We didn't want to go the traditional route and do matching names for the twins. What're you thinking?"

This was one thing Edward and I hadn't talked about. "I like the whole idea of going with something with meaning, like family. Maybe Renee after my mom, but then again I don't wanna leave Esme out. It's still something we need to talk about." There was still _a lot_ to talk about.

"Everything looks good, your little one is growing perfectly. How's the morning sickness? They say it gets better during the second trimester, so you should at least be feeling better soon." Leah moved the monitor around my stomach, showing us our little one.

I smiled, distracted by the image on the screen. Although I didn't see anything clearly like Edward and Dr. Clearwater did I was in love with my little baby. "It's already getting better, not as much. Thankfully. So when will we know the results from the blood tests?"

Smiling she clicked a few buttons on the machine. "Two weeks, we'll just sit down and discuss your results and what we need to do after. Then you'll come back the next week for your ultrasound."

Edward shook her hand, taking the images from her. "Thanks again Leah, can't thank you enough."

"Wouldn't want anything but the best for one of our top interns Cullen."

Edward and I stopped by a local pizza place for a bite to eat after the appointment. Pizza was my new found love. No red sauce, pineapple and pepperoni. I earned the strange looks from each pizza guy. We were in the car on our way back to his place when I found myself unable to stop staring at the picture in my hands. I was amazed at the tiny little baby growing in my stomach. It was still crazy to me that I'd created life. "This is our baby, I mean it's an actual baby."

"Each time we're in that office it gets more and more real. Watching her grow is just an absolute miracle." He spoke, appalled just as I was.

I smiled, placing one of the photos on his mirror. "I never thought this would be my life, I never imagined I'd be this happy pregnant girl crying over photos of her unborn child."

Grabbing my hand he stroked his thumb. "It's not a bad thing Bella, to be happy you know?"

Avoiding _that_ conversation I sighed "So, your sister brought up a good point today. I mean it just got me thinking, there's a lot of things we need to agree on. Or not even that, just things we need to talk about. This is someone's life we're in charge of."

"Absolutely, anything you want to talk about specifically? We do have time though."

All I could hear was the last sentence. Did we really have time? I mean I already was at eleven weeks. There's idealistically forty weeks in a pregnancy so that leaves me 29 weeks left. And that's six and a half months, half a year. It isn't that much time. "Edward, I don't mean to nag you but we don't have time. We have to get things done, there's no waiting when it comes to this baby." I practically barked out at him. He began laughing, almost a full blown laugh. "Why're you laughing at me? Time isn't a humorous subject Edward!"

Fighting through the laughter he calmed himself down. "Please, don't be mad. I'm not laughing at you. It's just that we do really have time. We don't even know if our baby is a girl or a boy. Listen to me when I say, we have time. It's not a lot in comparison to the next eighteen years of our lives, but it's time. Let's enjoy these next six and a half months. I'm not saying I'm not excited for our little one, because I am, like really excited. But also people tell you that you're gonna miss the pre-parent days. Not in a way like you'd trade your kids for anything kind of way, but a nostalgic kinda way."

Wiping my tears I calmed myself down, feeling that feeling in my stomach again. The one I had yet to recognize, still all new to me. "I get it, I do. I think I'm just feeling different from you because I never wanted this. Being a mom wasn't in my plan, when I saw myself dying in bed at ninety, I was alone. Just me and maybe a nurse who I warmed up to. Now, all I can think about is being a mom. When I see myself as an old woman I see kids, and grand kids. I don't know what comes after this baby, where I'll be in ten years. All I know is I'm gonna be a mother soon."

"I don't know what's next for me either, like you said. But I just want you to picture me, in that image. On your deathbed, no matter what comes next for us as far as relationship wise. We're in this life together, not just the next eighteen years. This baby, he or she bonds us for life. We have this one thing in common, if not anything else. Which ever one of us goes first, well on my part at least, I'll by your bedside."

Putting a hand on his I looked into his stunning, wide and emotional, emerald eyes. "I'll be there too, by your bedside. If you croak first that is." I chuckled letting the tension go in the car. I didn't want things getting too serious, yet.

It was funny, the first time I saw his house I figured it'd be the last time. Little did I know I'd end up spending a lot more time there. More time than I actually spent at my dad's place, which was mostly my place considering I had no place signed to my name. With a pizza box in the fridge I sat on the cream colored couch, laptop on the table and crappy reality TV playing in the background. "There's a position on the reservation, they're looking for a new column in their paper. Something fresh and new, something people haven't seen before?"

"That'd be great for you, wouldn't it? You're always coming up with new ideas for topics to talk about. Plus it can even be a part time thing while you're getting use to life with the baby." Edward exclaimed, sitting down next to me holding a bowl of strawberry ice cream topped with strawberries and whip cream. "Maybe you could write about obsessions, like yours with strawberries."

Smacking him lightly I chuckled. "Or I could write about _The_ _Kardashians_ like every other news place. I wouldn't even know what to start with. They want a sample by next week."

"If I hear one more thing about that family, it better not be from you." Smiling he took a spoonful of ice cream. "You'll figure it out, I know you will."

Biting my lip I launched the writing processor. "There's just nothing interesting about my life that people would want to read about? I mean I'm a pregnant girl in my early twenties who has no idea what she's doing? Tell me how unoriginal that is?"

No laughing he looked right at me. "That's actually pretty original Bella, you could also talk about your history before the baby. I mean not a lot of woman openly talk about their sex lives. It's something that needs more awareness, less stigma."

"That's…actually a good idea. But I mean it puts me at risk for other positions in the future. I don't want people to just know me as that writer who got her career based on sex. It's risky." I contemplated watching the little cursor blink every second I didn't type.

Sighing Edward shrugged "Anonymously write it, you could sign it with a nickname. People can ask for your advice, you can talk about the weirdo's and the good guys. Things you've learned, you could even help girls."

Searching my head for ideas one came to me, one that'd been there all along. "Rose she calls me 'The Hook-Up Queen.' It's perfect. I could sign it like _Gossip Girl_. ' _Xoxo, Gossip Girl'"_

"It's perfect Bella! Plus you can write from home, and if you wanted to get another job. But you don't have to. I don't want you to think you won't be taken care of."

Chuckling as I started to write I shook my head. "I'm not that girl Edward. I know it's okay to get some help, but I don't wanna lean on you."

"Whatever you say, 'Hook-up Queen.'"

 **Ladies,**

 **Most women these days are afraid to say they love hooking up. It's the stigma we've created as a society, double standards. Men love hearing how many women they're friends have slept with. But when it comes to how many guys us ladies have slept with we become the sluts. So we then become afraid to be as sexual as we want. You know what I said about that? Screw it. As a single woman in her early twenties I took charge of my sex life. Instead of waiting for a nice guy to come around I decided what I wanted and went and got it. With condoms and birth control I went to bars around the city and scoped out decent men who didn't seem like serial killers. Don't think I'm condoning this, it's not for everyone. But for a while it worked for me. But hook-ups come with consequences. One night without a condom and I've found myself pregnant. I'm not your everyday kinda girl. And my pregnancy isn't what I'm hear to talk about. I'm here to talk about why we need more woman in the world who feel self empowered and aren't ashamed for wanting what they want. I'm also not here to say sleeping around is the best thing and everyone should do it. Because it's not, hook-ups aren't for everyone. However one thing is for everyone, sex. So I'm here to answer your questions about sex, share my experiences and provide a way for this to become a topic we can openly discuss. One us woman in society today shouldn't feel shameful about. We deserve respect and don't deserve the double standards placed upon us.**

 **-The Hook-Up Queen.**


	7. It's a !

**The Hook-Up Queen**

The summer went by faster than I could've ever imagined. Cool summer nights at the Cullen's private beach house, barbecues with everyone, and just getting lost in the enjoyment of my pregnancy. Before I knew it my stomach was the size of a small, very small, volley ball. I didn't even want to hide it, rather I emphasized it wearing tight tank tops.

One thing that remained constant was my father's reaction to the pregnancy. We only spoke about little one in the mornings, and in the night. He'd ask me how I was feeling and proceed to his day. At first I found an appreciation for the lack of investigation in my life. But now adjusted to my new found ways, enjoying nights staying home with friends and new family, I wanted more. I wanted my father to be excited about the next chapter in my life.

Thankfully there was one thing off my checklist of worries. Little one was perfect, growing at a perfect rate. Perfect was the only way to describe it. Ever since we'd found out everything was in the clear for now as far as genetics, we'd been over the moon. Now only that week did we find out good news about our baby, my career had finally made progress. New Moon loved my article, James Hunter the owner of the company called my personally to talk about how much his wife Victoria loved it. He claimed it was relatable, comical, and brutal. It was something nobody had seen before, especially in a small town like ours. My article would be published Wednesday of this week.

"I'm so excited to see little one, so excited." It was my 16 week check-up, and if we were lucky Leah would be able to tell the gender.

Gathering his stuff Edward smiled. "I know, this weeks a little extra special. We can finally stop calling little one, an it and he/she. And I'll finally know if I have to actually learn how to play football so I can teach him how to play, or if I have to find the most expensive ballet or art studio."

Rolling my eyes I bit my lip. "We still haven't agreed on names. I mean after today it'll be easier but still. Let's focus on that first." Stopping in the door frame of his place I turned around, looking up at his tall figure. I couldn't help but linger a little longer than I probably should have at his lips. Shaking my head I forced myself to focus. "Besides, our son can paint or dance if he wants. And our daughter can play any sport she wants. We aren't forcing gender roles on this baby."

Placing a hand on my face, sliding it down my cheek he spoke so softly. "You know you're going to make the most amazing mother? I believe that-I believe in you, Bella. I know you're always doubting yourself when it comes to all this new stuff. But you're really doing a good job."

Avoiding the ever growing feelings I had buried deep down was becoming a hard task. I realized the little flutters in my stomach wasn't gas, it was actual feelings. Sometimes it was hard to tell if he was actually flirting with me, or just being kind because I was carrying his child. Plus it never helped with my hormones always raging. Rose was the only one who knew how I was feeling. She of course gave advice old me would've loved. However, my life was different, I was different. Not only that but Edward was a different guy. One who deserved much better than a Hook-Up Queen like me. So, for now things were at a limbo. We were friends, bonding over a baby.

"You wanna check out that new place on the corner, near that bakery? I heard their ice cream is the actual best in town now." Edward asked as we waited for Dr. Uley.

Recalling what the nurse had just told me, I sighed. "As much as I'd really love that, like a lot, I'm afraid we're gonna have to stop this habit. Not all of us have a gym in our fancy new homes, and I'm gaining weight like crazy."

Scoffing he rolled his eyes. "You're pregnant, you're supposed to gain weight. Plus the nurse said nothing about it. We can have salad for dinner tonight if that'll make you feel better."

"Are you sure you're not the pregnant one?"

We shared a laugh, hearing Dr. Uley's from the door. "We better hope not." Chuckling she walked over. "So, are you ready to see your baby?" We both nodded, eager. "Let's hope your kid isn't as stubborn as my intern." Looking over I squeezed his hand while Leah squirted the gel on my stomach. Thankfully the doctors learned having it cold didn't do us patients any good. "Alright, we're doing good on measurements. To give you an idea of how big little one is, you've got a little avocado in you." Moving it around more she did the usual markings, everything Edward understood but I didn't. "You two seem to be lucky, avocado is agreeing with us today. One last time, are you sure you guys wanna know?"

Looking to each other we both nodded, we were ready to know what our little avocado was.

"Emmett, I trust you didn't look. We want this to be a surprise for everyone." I asked over the phone, leaning over Esme's granite counters.

Laughing as if it were the most ridiculous accusation he waved it off. "Bells. You know I'm actually twelve years old. Of course I didn't look. I love surprise parties."

Sighing I put down the sandwich in my hand. "Thank you Emmett, don't even mention this to Rosie. Let her think one of us took the envelope. You know she'd get jealous."

"Okay, okay. I'll see you tomorrow sis." Emmett had been possibly the most welcoming other than Edward himself. But according to Em I'd always been apart of the family and now always would be.

Esme and I had been baking almost all day, from blue and pink cupcakes to pacifier shaped rice crispy treats. I was overwhelmed by the excitement she'd been throwing around these past few months. Between Alice and I she had the same amount of excitement my dad would have in his entire life. All the Cullen kids were use to this, saying she was like this most of the time. For me I could never get use to it. Charlie had only ever been truly excited a few times in my lifetime. The first time I threw a baseball when I was four, when I got my license, and at my graduations.

"Did you invite your father sweetie? Or anyone of your friends?" My personal life wasn't something I talked about a lot.

I shrugged trying to avoid the conversation. "I don't think my dad would really be interested in something like this. And as for friends, Rose is practically my only one, I mean other than you guys. I consider all of you my friends, I guess even my family."

Rubbing my back and offering up one of her kind smiles, the ones you saw the mothers on TV have. "Of course sweetheart. Would you like me to call your dad? I can be pretty persuasive, just ask my husband."

"That she is Bella." Carlisle entered the kitchen, setting his briefcase on the floor and placing a kiss on his wife's cheek. "Smells wonderful in here, are you sure we have to wait until tomorrow."

As he sneaked a hand towards a blue cupcake Esme lightly smacked it away. "Honey, we have plenty of guest and these are all for them. Tomorrow will be here soon enough. Why don't you go wash up and get ready for dinner."

I watched the two of them interact, just so in love. They'd been together for over 35 years, married for 32. Before I would've cringed at the cheesiness of their romance. Now? Now I envied everything they had, it was something that made my heart pull inside me. It felt as if it were pulling in whatever direction Edward was in, rushing to him. But my brain was the wall blocking it, but yet it kept rushing back to slam into it once again.

Later that night after I'd arrived home from the Cullen's I found myself just standing in the kitchen with my father. Just like every night lately. He asked me how I was feeling, how the baby was and I'd ask him about work and fishing. Esme's question ran through my mind, a million times. Over and over again. Conversations Edward's family and I had about the baby played on top of those. I couldn't help but remember all the things they'd asked me, how much they wanted to know, the little things too. And I envied it, so damn much. I envied the fact that they got to the point where they were so use to the questions and the emotions in their household. For the first time in my life I let myself get mad about it, about not having a family put together. I got mad that Charlie didn't allow himself to be there for me, that he couldn't allow me to form my own opinions on relationships and babies.

Biting my lip as I sat up on the counter I looked to Charlie. "I'm having a reveal party tomorrow. It's this thing where the doctor wrote down what the baby was in an envelope and we gave it to our friend, well Edward's brother Emmett, and he took it to a bakery. And the baker has put either blue or pink frosting inside so when Edward and I cut it we'll find out what our little one is. That's what we it for now, until tomorrow. And anyways, I want you to come. It'd mean a lot to me, like a lot. You can meet his family, and the people I consider my family now. And you can invite whoever you want too, I know you have the old fishing buddies who always use to take me fishing. So I don't know if they'd wanna come or be interested. But there's going to be lots of food, and the Cullens are the nicest people in the world. You don't have to come though, if you don't want. I'm just telling you this."

Obviously uncomfortable about my oversharing and lack of breathing. "Oh, uh yeah sure. Just tell me time and place, and I'll be there."

Looking down I grinned, jumping off the counter. "Be ready by two, you can follow behind Edward and I."

I was barely able to sleep that night, I felt every kind of emotion hitting me. That had been happening a lot. For one I'd voiced how I felt towards my father and gotten an okay reaction. But the feeling on the top of my list was joy! It took everything Edward and I to not look into the envelope that day. It was an abrupt decision. We'd been so dead set on just finding out.

 _"Yes!" We both practically shouted at Dr. Uley as she moved over looking at our baby. But as I watched her eyes squinting, focusing I freaked out. "Wait!" I had recalled an idea Alice had thrown around a few weeks prior to our appointment. We were both excited to find out about our babies, she mentioned throwing a gender reveal party. However she'd decided on having a video filmed of them opening up a box filled with balloons colored for the gender. But the idea of the party stuck out, and I knew Esme would love something like that. "Edward, what do you think about a reveal party? I think you're family would love it and it'd be such a memorable way for us to find out about little one?"_

 _Squeezing my hand he kissed my cheek. "That's a perfect idea Bella. I love it."_

 _Looking over at the two of us Dr. Uley went over and grabbed an envelope and tiny sticky-note. "Alright, looks like you two have made your decision, finally. I'll seal this nice and tight."_

 _As she cleaned up my belly I spoke up. "You're invited to come to our party! If you want that is. I mean we're not really sure on specifics but Edward can let you know."_

 _"I'd love to come Bella! Thank you so much."_

I was woken up early enough by none other than Rose and Alice, who claimed I needed to look super nice for todays event since there would be a million pictures taken. "Guys, the party isn't until 4. It's only ten, a momma to be needs her sleep."

Rose sighed looking to Alice. "Sweetie, you've gotten enough sleep. We're going to get pedicures after you're ready so that doesn't leave us much time."

"Plus I've got this super adorable outfit picked out for you! So get your little belly and all out of bed." Alice practically dragged me from my nice warm bed.

I had never been one for makeup and hair, let alone dressing all that nice. But my two best friends however were the exact opposite. While I always wore plain shirts and jeans the two of them were all about name brands. Except whenever we went out Rose would throw me into her outfits and do my hair for me. I was always thankful because I would never know how to do any of it without her.

By twelve my hair was all curled and there was a small layer of makeup coating my face. At least they knew I preferred nothing too extreme when it came to this stuff. The two had bought me white long sleeved flowing dress with two bow around my waist, blue and pink. I had to admit I was feeling more and more anxious.

Edward was awaiting outside his silver shiny volvo, wearing a light pink shirt and blue jeans. Rarely I saw him out of his scrubs or a pair of sweats, but damn did he pull off any look. "Why am I wearing blue _and_ pink yet you're wearing pink?"

"Mom told me to wear the color I thought little one would be."

Smirking he pulled lightly at the bottom of the short, stretching it out. "And you think a girl? You want a little girl?"

Following me inside he shrugged. "I mean I don't want to be stereotypical, but I really don't care as long as little one is healthy. But then again I always saw how much my father doted on Alice, she was the only girl and youngest. Even though he adores Emmett and I, he and my sister's relationship is different. So I'd love a little girl. That and I never bet against Alice."

When we entered the house Charlie was standing in the corner of the kitchen, just waiting. He looked nervous upon seeing us enter. He and Edward had only met a few times, had a few conversations.

"Ready to go dad?"

We arrived with plenty of time, watching as all the men in the family were put to work. Hanging lights from the trees, around the tent and all. One side of the tent decorated in all things blue and the other in pink. Dividing the two from one another a giant tyedye box, **Which team are you? Blue or Pink? Write your name on the bow rightfully colored and pin!** Everything was so beautiful. I couldn't even imagine what our shower would be like. There was already even a table of small gifts, the guests weren't even here yet.

"Oh Bella sweetie! I didn't even notice you were here, I've been so busy between this and planning Alice's video." Esme pulled me in for a hug talking at a million miles an hour. "And this must be your father! Charlie it's so amazing to finally get to meet again!" She took him by surprise, too pulling him in for a hug.

I was proud when he responded respectfully, not even mentioning the hug. "Same to you Esme. I can't thank you enough for being so kind to my Bella."

Grabbing my hand she smiled gracefully. "Of course, she's family Charlie! And so are you, we are going to be grandparents in a few months after all! Nobody would believe it though, I still feel as if we're far too young to be grandparents!" The two shared a laugh until she began to walk. "Come on, we'll get you a drink. There's an open bar so please help yourself."

Starting precisely at four people began showing up, most of them owning fancy cars and giant diamonds. I was shocked to see a lot of them were around Edward and I's age. I had even recognized a few faces, mostly from around town and the hospital. All of Edward's friends from the hospital came which I felt thankful for. I'd been making trips to the hospital often and had been getting to know all of them more and more, even Paul who was sometimes an asshole. Although on the quieter side compared to Rachel Black, Emily Young and I had been getting along the best. She understand a lot of my feelings on pregnancy and relationships, her mother had been the same way as my father had been growing up. We mutually agreed they'd both left us extremely dark and twisty.

I found Sam and Leah to be an odd couple as they walked in with Seth, separating them. After hearing from Emily it sounded as if Sam had really loved her, like true love. Leah had been caught by Sam sleeping with his best friend Jacob back in New York. After that, he fled to Washington to start over a completely new life. That's when he and Em had met in a bar, similar to Edward and I. Except the two kept sleeping together until Leah showed up wanting to fix their marriage.

Eventually after mingling with each of our guests it was time for the reveal. Everyone divided to the appropriate side, even my father participated (I think due to Alice's charm) wearing a blue ribbon on his flannel. I grinned ear to ear as all the Cullens fled to the right side, pink! All of them knew to never bet against Alice.

We smiled at he photographer as they snapped away at us just holding the knife. The cake itself was extravagant. It was a gorgeous eggshell white, two tiered and covered in pink and blue lace fondant. I grinned to Edward as we held the knife together, ready to look at the frosting inside the cake. Practically shaking we cut the cake, looking closely to see what color frosting was inside, more importantly what little one is.

When we saw what color was inside we could've cared less about the actual cake. Looking over to the side we announced little's ones gender. "Alice..you were right. It's a girl!" Everyone, even the boy side erupted into a loud roar of clapping and congratulations. It became one of those moments that you see through the eyes of the main character in a _Lifetime_ movie. The one where it was slow motion because either something really bad or something really good was happening, in my case so good. I swear I say every single persons face, filled with so much happiness over our baby, our baby girl. And I don't know if it was the hormones racing through my body, my lack of patience, or just being happy but I turned towards Edward who was so happy, so happy he was crying. His big smile making his entire face squish up in happiness it just got me. Leaning on my tippy-toes I grabbed his face and I kissed him.

This kiss was different than the last first time. _This_ was the first kiss. Not our drunken mess of one. Here and now with our friends and family, and our little girl. Everything was different, in more than a good way. I was taken away from the moment hearing everyone wooing and whistling. When our lips finally parted he still held onto me, wrapping his arm around my waist while I rested my head on his chest. I was just so happy, nothing could ruin this.

For the rest of the party we walked around, never separating. And every once and a while he'd lean over and peck my lips. It just felt right, and so normal as if we'd been doing this every day. I couldn't even begin to understand how I never wanted this, wanted him. Truth was I had always wanted him, even when I didn't know him. I was searching for Edward my whole life. We were meant for one another.

We were interrupted by my father later that evening. He didn't look as excited as everyone else had, there wasn't anything. I couldn't read his face. "Hey Bells, I think I'm heading home. Baseballs gonna be on soon."

I bit my lip waiting to hear anything else. But when he didn't I sighed. "Alright dad. I hope you had a good time, you want me to bring you home any leftovers?"

"No, I'm good. Bye everyone." He walked off towards his cruiser.

The disappoint didn't take over too long as Esme came over, immediately lifting my mood back up again. But in the back of mind I still held onto my father's face. I couldn't tell if it was disappointment towards me, or the fact that I was carrying a little girl. He hadn't been this way in forever.

As the sun started to set and the guest were all gone all of the Cullens sat in the back porch in silence with Edward and I. We were all just reflecting a great day. Not even Emmett didn't make any comments about our very public kiss. I yawned as we cuddled together on the wooden furniture. Placing a kiss on the top of my head he scooted closer. "You want me to take you home? We've had a long day."

"Yeah, that'd be great. I miss my bed way too much." I giggled standing up, taking his hand in mine. The only thing that would suck about going home was being away from Edward.

We bid our goodbyes and thank yous, hugging each of them a little longer than anticipated. I couldn't help it, I just felt so thankful. This was what life was about. Everything was exactly how it was meant to be. Edward and I were becoming a little family while we awaited the arrival of our little girl, I had an awesome job, my dad was happy for me, and my best friends had become my family.

"Bell! Tomorrow, you, me, mom and Rose go shopping! We need some things for my little niece!" Alice hugged my tight, kissing my cheek.

Esme piped up, remembering a thought. "Speaking of baby things, we better start planning your shower! We can have it at the inn, it can be a tea party theme! Or any theme you want. But anyways, that's a little ways a way. I figured I'd ask now because I was hoping you could dig out a few pictures. One from each month of your first year. Rose said it'd be a cute idea to do a picture clothes line of your and Edward's baby pictures. Just so we can all guess what little one will look like."

"Of course Esme. Thank you so so much, I can't thank you enough. You've been like a mother to me. I just am so honored to be part of your family. I love you." Slowly I was opening myself up to these people. To _my_ people.

After making out like teenagers recklessly trying not to get caught I watched from the doorframe as Edward drove away. Walking in the house I couldn't knock the goofy smile off my face. Only the kitchen light was on, and dad wasn't even sitting at the table drinking coffee per usual. I peaked out the window noticing that the cruiser wasn't even in the driveway.

Shrugging his actions off once again today I grabbed a bottled water and went to my father's room. I'd only been in it a handful of times, and it never changed. There was one photo on the dresser. It was him and mom on their wedding day. Then in the corner was a rocking chair with some clothes thrown across it. The walls were a dark green, making the room seem a lot creepier than it actually was.

Going to the closet I open the big wooden door, to reveal tiny boxes stacked onto each other. I knew there had to be a baby picture somewhere in one of them. Taking out the first one I blew and wiped the dust off the top. I opened it up, sitting on top of the photos was a letter addressed to me, Isabella was scrawled in feminine writing. Taking it out I placed the box towards the side. Turning it over it it appeared to have already opened.

The first thing I noticed was the date at the top. March 21, 1988 the year after I was born.

 _Bella,_

 _I'm sure you have a million thoughts running through your mind depending on what your father told you. I don't know if you're crying, if you're angry or how old you are. But I guess that doesn't truly matter. You deserve an explanation why I'm not here. Please believe me when I tell you I wanted you so bad, both of us wanted you. When I found out I was pregnant I drove right over to the police station to tell your father. All nine months waiting for you I become so impatient, I wanted to meet our Isabella! And the day finally came. September 13, 1987. It seemed like a million hours for you to make your entrance, but when you did it all faded together. We were so happy at first, then time passed. Your father went back to work and I was left home alone all day, no car, no family and no help. You would cry and cry until your father came home. At first I handled it, eventually I grew so tired. I loved you, and I knew that. But it just became too much. You were crying in the bath and I'd been dealing with you for months. The water was running and I just wanted you to stop. I'm so sorry Bella, I didn't want to hurt you. Thankfully your father came home and saw my hand holding you face down into the tub. Thats when I decided I wasn't good for you, or your father. He loved, and still loves you so much. I know this wherever I am. I've gotten better, I'm getting help. I had post-partum depression and it was left untreated. I love you and hope you can find it in your heart to forgive._

 _-Mom._

There were several more, scattered all throughout various boxes along with pictures of her holding me, pretending to be happy when all she wanted to do was drown me. The letters were mostly just her catching up, telling me about her various jobs and activities. Renee was living in Phoenix, Arizona. Not event that far from me. Instead of crying or yelling, I just felt..numb. There were no words to describe how I was even feeling. Numb couldn't begin to cover it. I didn't even know how long I'd been sitting there, time seemed frozen. It could've been minutes, hours, even days and I wouldn't have noticed. My world was upside down.

For my entire life I had thought I killed my mother, that _I_ was the reason my father raised me how he did. But no, this was all on them. I grew up telling people my mommy died and was in heaven. When no, she abandoned me out of selfishness. Yet she had the decency to write me letters to tell me about her new husband and cactus plants. I felt so sick to my stomach.

I was so zoned out I didn't even hear my father's footsteps enter his room. "Bells..what're you.." He stopped mid sentence seeing what I'd found.

Standing up slowly I held the letters in my hand. "She's alive."

"I..I..I can explain." Charlie tried to defend himself.

Interrupting him I raised my voice. "No! You do not get to say shit to me! I've been alive for over twenty years and every one of those you let me think that you hated me because of her death, that it was my fault. But no, this is all on you and her. How could you not notice how depressed she was? Renee literally could've killed me, if you had been two minutes later you would've come home to a dead baby. Then you let her leave and create this lie for me to believe? God, you're such a bad father."

He then raised his voice as well, yelling louder than I'd ever heard. Louder than that time I snuck out to go to a party with Jess and her boyfriend. "I'm a bad father? Are you kidding me?! I was the one who had to take care of you, I didn't have a choice. I couldn't just walk out. You wanted me to tell my three year old that her mother tried to kill her? What did you want me to do!"

"You don't get it Charlie! You didn't have to tell me she was dead for christ's sake, you could've made up something a little simpler. Then given me this letter when I was fourteen, or I don't know. And you raised me with such a bitterness, I didn't even let myself be completely happy until today. I never wanted a husband, or a baby or even to settle down. But now because of the Cullens, they showed me what a really family is, what parents are supposed to do for their children. God, I resent you so much for putting those ideas in my head. I beat myself up so much over it, thinking you'd be disappointed in me. I'm not the one who did that, Renee did. You're wife screwed you and I over and you took it out on me. That's not what a dad does!"

Chuckling in a sarcastic way he quieted down for a moment. "No, this isn't your mother's fault. This is your fault! I love you Bella, I do. But if you'd never been born she wouldn't have gotten sick! She'd still be here if it weren't for you. And don't blame me for your issues. That's on you. You think that man is going to stay? You think you're going to get some happy little family once your daughters born? You need a reality check. Things aren't going to be perfect. Your mother got sick after you, its gonna happen to you. And he's gonna leave you, it's inevitable. Don't be a stupid naive girl."

Wiping the tears from my eyes I stomped from the room. There was nothing left to say. "I'm leaving, I can come get most my things tomorrow when you're at work."

I threw anything in sight into a tiny duffle bag, unable to concentrate through my tears. I had no idea where I was going to go but I knew I needed to get out of there. This was no longer a home to me, every memory here was now tainted with my fathers spoken thoughts. Growing up I had always known he had some unresolved feelings of anger and blame directed towards me but now hearing everything he thought out loud made it a million times worse.

Walking to the kitchen I could barely look my father in the eye. "Bells, I'm sorry. I went out and had a couple of drinks. I didn't mean,"

"You didn't mean what? I don't need your excuses or any apologies. I'm done, like I said I'll get the rest of my things tomorrow."

He blocked me from the door. "Where are you going? At least let me pay for a motel or something."

Pushing him aside I wiped my tears one last time before getting into my car. "Goodbye Charlie."

I found myself driving for a few hours, just around town before I shut off my car. The motion light flickered on when I stepped out, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Composing myself so he wouldn't freak out I tapped on the door lightly, it was almost midnight. Wearing nothing but his boxer's Edward opened the door, one hand on the door the other ruffling his messy bronze mane. "Bella, love. What're you doing here this late?"

"I…my mom..she's alive."


End file.
